Hand tool for hairpieces

ABSTRACT

A device and a method for handling decorative hair are provided. The decorative hair is connected to the natural hair with a sleeve. The device includes a first body, a recess provided in the first body for receiving the sleeve and holding the sleeve, and a second body. A projection is provided on the second body, and is tapered toward the free end of the projection. The projection is inserted into the flattened sleeve to open the sleeve and to disconnect the decorative hair from the natural hair. The recess has a through hole, into which the projection is inserted. A guide hole extends from the through hole so that the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve can enter into the through hole. The recess and the projection are provided on the ends of two pivoting handles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tool for attaching and detaching hairpieces to the natural hair. More particularly, this invention relates to a tool for attaching and detaching hairpieces, which provides a quick, reliable and convenient operation.

There are many devices and methods that are related to attaching or detaching hairpieces or strands of hair to the existing natural hair of a user for decorative purposes.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,736, issued Jun. 18, 2002 to Townsend, shows self adhesive hair extensions and a method of attaching then to the head of a wearer. The self adhesive hair extensions comprise a plurality of either natural or synthetic hair strands attached to a base support comprising a strip of woven material or hair attachment weave or welt at one end. A fastener comprising a self adhesive tape portion and removable backing is sewn or otherwise secured by stitching to the hair extensions in order to prevent the adhesive tape from being separated or repositioned during use. The method of use includes separating a user's hair along a part line into an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion is temporarily swept up and away from the part line. The removable backing is removed from the adhesive hair fastener exposing the removable self-adhesive tape. The self-adhesive tape is applied to the scalp or back of head of user.

U.S. Pat. No. D447,286, issued Aug. 28, 2001 to Diaz, claims the ornamental design for a hair extension.

U.S. Pat. No. D433,774, issued Nov. 14, 2000 to Diaz, also describes the ornamental design for a hair extension.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,211, issued May 4, 1999 to Brown, discloses an artificial hair piece that includes an independent extension of synthetic human hair secured at one end to a stretchable, twistable, and foldable elastic loop or band. The opposite end of the extension can either be free or can be gathered and tied or otherwise bound. The elastic loop can be used to secure gathered actual hair of a user into, for example, a ponytail. The hair extension can then be wrapped around the elastic loop to hide it from view and give the impression that the hair extension is securing the ponytail in place. The hair extension can be selected to match one or more characteristic of the user's own hair.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,209, issued May 4, 1999 to McDonald, indicates a hair extension that includes hair strands affixed to a ring assembly. The ring assembly include an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring is configured to nest within the outer ring, with distal ends of the hair strands impinged between the inner and outer rings. A plait of a user's hair is inserted through the ring assembly of the hair extension. In one embodiment, the hair extension is attached to the plait with a band, or by sewing the hair extension to the plait. In another embodiment, the ring assembly is modified with a fastening assembly for fastening the hair extension to the plait.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,846, issued Apr. 20, 1999 to Gang, puts forth a device for lengthening a person's own hair using artificial and/or genuine hair and for the permanent fastening of artificial and/or genuine hair. The invention is characterized in that a tube, which can be shrunk when energy is applied, is disposed above a thickened portion, secured in position, in particular a knot in a strand of a person's own hair and above an extension piece of artificial and/or genuine hair. An energy-application device, in particular in the form of heating irons, transfers thermal energy in a deliberate manner to the shrinkable tube. The method in which the device is used is characterized by the following steps; knotting a strand of the person's own hair, sliding onto the knot in the hair strand a fastening element which can shrink when energy is applied, sliding an extension strand artificial and/or genuine hair into the tube; and shrinking the shrinkable fastening element by the application of energy.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,145, issued Feb. 9, 1999 to Spann. discloses a hair extension and thickening process. A weft of natural or synthetic supplemental hair is suspended upon a mounting surface. A small bundle of supplemental hair is segregated from the weft. Liquid latex is applied thereto, and the latex is twisted into it so that the supplemental hair is thoroughly coated, intertwined, and bonded together at the junction so formed. Cyanoacrylate adhesive is applied to further bond the bundle of supplemental hair. The supplemental bundles are then permanently separated from the weft. The supplemental bundle may later be bonded to a person's natural hair through the use of a hot melt acrylic adhesive. Release and separation of the supplemental bundle from the person's natural hair is obtained through the use of acetone.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,418, issued Sep. 29, 1998 to Pillars, illustrates a color matched hair clip device with and without an unlocking key combination, and a method for adding and removing multiple hair extensions or tracks to a person's head without resorting to sewing or gluing as practiced conventionally. The hair clip device is made up of a comb element and a cover element which “Ziplocs”™, with a locking guard element in the first embodiment. The U-shaped locking guard has a hooked sheath at each end. The cover element has two track snaps or hair extension holders under which the hair extensions are attached. The second embodiment dispenses with the locking guard and utilizes plastic snaps for both the hair extension holders, the comb teeth and the cover element for securing the hair extensions. The method of use includes placing the comb element close to the scalp, engaging the end teeth of the comb with the sheathed ends of the locking guard, wrapping the natural hair around the comb to be held initially by the sheathed locking guard's external hooks, and either interlocking the cover element with the locking guard or snapping the hair extension holders and the cover element for securing the hair extensions.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,761, issued Jun. 16, 1992 to Meister, provides a method for the attachment of extensions or wefts of hair to the naturally growing hair of a person, First, the location of where the extension is to be attached to the person is determined. Then, the hair is parted along that location. The hair along the part is gathered together in small clumps. A crimpable anchor device is located onto each clump of hair. Each anchor device is positioned along the respective hair clump to a position near the scalp of the person. The anchor devices are crimped so as to secure their positions. Then, the extension is sewn to the clumps of hair using needle and thread. The needle and thread pass through the respective clumps at locations between the anchor devices and the scalp. The naturally growing hair is allowed to fall in place so as to cover the points of attachment.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,867, issued Apr. 28, 1992 to Barrington, shows a reversible process for attaching permanent extensions to human hair in which strands of supplemental hair are joined with a thermostable adhesive to form a plug of supplemental hair. A coating of thermosetting adhesive is applied over the thermostable adhesive and cured. Strands of the person's natural hair are threaded through a section of heat shrinkable tubing, the plug of supplemental hair is inserted into the heat shrinkable tubing, and heat is applied to the heat shrinkable tubing so that the thermosetting adhesive liquifies and joins the plug of supplemental hair and natural hair, and the heat shrinkable tubing shrinks in size to compress and seal the junction. The permanent extension can be removed by reapplication of heat to the heat shrinkable tubing.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,387, issued Jun. 19, 1990 to Megna, describes a process for lengthening the hair of persons who have short hair and for thickening the hair for those who have a relatively small amount of hair. The process includes the steps of aligning supplemental hair with the natural hair, adhering the supplemental hair to the natural hair utilizing a colored thermoplastic glue, intertwining the warm adhered natural and supplemental hair together to permit a binding of the supplemental to the natural hair, and then styling the combined hair. A technique for preparing the thermoplastic glue is also disclosed.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,862 issued Sep. 29, 1970 to Hudson, provides a hair piece made by aligning hair to a rod-like member, trimming the hair ends, grouping the hair covered rods together and coating the trimmed ends with an elastomerie binder to form a web-like base.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,663, issued Dec. 16, 1952 to Jenkins, discloses a method for permanently attaching commercial hair to live hair in which the attachment point is rendered invisible.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,530, issued May 19, 1998 to Traintinger, is for a method of attaching foreign hair to naturally grown scalp hair. First, a strand of scalp hair is combined with a strand of foreign hair. A clamping sleeve is slipped onto the loop of a loop catcher. Then the combined strand is inserted into loop and it is pulled into and through the clamping sleeve with the loop catcher. The combined strand of scalp hair and foreign hair are then preliminarily attached by pre-squeezing the sleeve. After the sleeve is properly placed in the vicinity of the scalp, the sleeve is finally pressed so as to clamp the foreign hair to the scalp hair. The sleeve, which may be of the same color as the hair, is removed by prying it open with bent-nose pliers.

None of the prior art methods or devices has been satisfactory in faultless and quick operation and in decorative effects.

The hand tool disclosed in '530 patent has a disadvantage that when the two noses of the piler are used to open the clamped sleeve in order to disconnect the strand of foreign hair from the strand of natural hair, it is difficult to stably hold the sleeve with respect to the piler. Also, it is difficult to insert the ends of the noses precisely into the crimped sleeve in order to open the sleeve. Loss of hair, waste of time, and pains of the user occurred due to the difficulties.

A device or method of quickly and conveniently connecting and disconnecting each small strand of existing hair with each small strand of extension hair while retaining the natural look and strength of each connection has long been in need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention contrives to solve the disadvantages of the prior art.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a hand tool, with which a user can quickly and safely disconnect strands of decorative hair from strands of natural hair.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a hand tool that can conveniently and precisely open a flattened sleeve, which holds the strands of decorative hair with the strands of natural hair together.

Still another objective of the invention is to provide a hand tool that can hold the sleeve by an easy operation and support the sleeve firmly during disconnecting the strand of decorative hair from the strand of natural hair.

Still another objective of the invention is to provide a method for disconnecting the strands of decorative hair from the strands of natural hair quickly and safely.

To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a device for handling decorative hair. The decorative hair is connected to the natural hair with a sleeve, and the sleeve is flattened to hold the decorative hair and the natural hair together. The device includes a first body and a recess provided in the first body for receiving the sleeve and holding the sleeve.

The device further includes a second body. A projection is provided on the second body. The projection is tapered toward the free end of the projection so that the projection becomes sharper toward the free end. The projection is inserted into the sleeve to open the sleeve and to disconnect the decorative hair from the natural hair. The recess has a through hole, into which the projection is inserted. The recess further includes a bottom wall, and a round wall that extends from the bottom wall. The through hole is provided in the bottom wall.

The first body further includes a guide groove that extends from the through hole so that the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve can enter into the through hole. The projection has a shape of a needle.

The guide groove includes a tapered portion. The tapered portion becomes wider toward outside of the first body so that inserting the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve into the through hole is facilitated.

The through hole is substantially circular, and the projection has a substantially circular cross-section.

The device further includes a first handle and a second handle. The first body is connected to the first handle, and the second body is connected to the second handle. The first handle and the second handle are pivotable with respect to a pivot point, so that opening the sleeve, which is positioned in the recess, with the projection is performed by pivoting the first handle and the second handle toward each other.

The device further includes a spring member. The spring member presses the second handle away from the first handle.

The invention also provides a method for handling decorative hair. In the method, the decorative hair is connected to the natural hair with a sleeve, and the sleeve is deformed to hold the decorative hair and the natural hair together. The deformed sleeve is opened with a tool, the method includes steps of positioning the sleeve into a recess provided in the tool, and inserting a projection provided in the tool into the sleeve to disconnect the decorative hair from the natural hair. The recess receives and holds the sleeve. The projection is tapered toward the free end of the projection so that the projection becomes sharper toward the free end.

In the step of inserting the projection, the projection is inserted into a through hole provided in the recess. In the step of positioning the sleeve, the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve are entered into the through hole by passing them through a guide groove that extends from the through hole to outside of the tool.

The advantages of the present invention are: (1) the device or hand tool of the present invention holds the sleeve firmly so that the user does not need to hold the sleeve separately and there is no difficulty in keeping the position of the sleeve during the operation of disconnecting the decorative hair from the natural hair; (2) the projection, which opens the deformed or flattened sleeve, is guided precisely into the sleeve so that the opening operation is easy, quick and safe; and (3) putting the sleeve with the decorative hair or natural hair attached to it on the recess of the tool is easy and convenient since the sleeve with the hair is guided into the recess by the guide groove.

Although the present invention is briefly summarized, the fuller understanding of the invention can be obtained by the following drawings, detailed description and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing a sleeve that attaches strands of decorative hair with strands of natural hair of a user;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along-the line 2-2 in FIG. 1 and showing the sleeve is flattened;

FIG. 3 is a view to similar to FIG. 2 but showing the flattenled sleeve is opened by a projection;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of a hand tool showing that a first handle and a second handle of the hand tool are pivoted away from each other;

FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the hand tool showing that the handles are pivoted toward each other;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a first body of the hand tool showing a recess, a through hole, and a guide groove of the first body;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram showing a method of handling hairpieces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a sleeve 10 that is used to attach strands of decorative hair 12 to strands of natural hair 14. A plurality of the sleeves 12 are used to get desired decorative effect. The decorative hair 12 may be natural or artificial hair, and is usually used to simulate long hair.

FIG. 2 shows that the sleeve 10 is deformed or flattened to firmly attach the decorative hair 12 to the natural hair 14. The decorative hair 12 and the natural hair 14 are densely packed inside the sleeve 10.

FIGS. 4-5 show a hand tool 16 for handling hairpieces or the decorative hair 12 according to the present invention. The hand tool 16 includes a first body 18. A recess 20 is provided in the first body 18 for receiving the sleeve 10 and holding the sleeve 10.

The hand tool 16 further includes a second body 22. A projection 24 is provided on the second body 22. The projection 24 is tapered toward the free end 26 of the projection 24 so that the projection 24 becomes sharper toward the free end 26. The projection 24 is inserted into the sleeve 10 to open the sleeve 10 and to disconnect the decorative hair 12 from the natural hair 14 (refer to FIGS. 3 and 7).

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the recess 20 and the projection 24 in detail. The recess 20 has a through hole 28, into which the projection 24 is inserted. As shown well in FIG. 7, the projection 24 has a shape of a needle.

The first body 18 further includes a guide groove 30 that extends from the through hole 28 so that the sleeve 10 and the decorative hair 12 or the natural hair 14 held by the sleeve 10 can enter into the through hole 28. The recess 20 further includes a bottom wall 32, and a round wall 34 that extends from the bottom wall 32. The through hole 28 is provided in the bottom wall 32. In this way, the sleeve 10 is securely held within the recess 20. The bottom wall 32 supports the sleeve 10 firmly against the force exerted by the projection 24 when the projection 24 is inserted into the sleeve 10.

The guide groove 30 includes a tapered portion 36. The tapered portion 36 becomes wider toward outside of the first body 18 so that inserting the sleeve 10 and the decorative hair 12 or the natural hair 14 held by the sleeve 10 into the through hole 28 is facilitated. The user simply grasps the decorative hair 12 or the natural hair 14, and passes the decorative hair 12 through the guide groove 30, and then lifting the first body 18 of the hand tool 16 slightly upward secures the sleeve 10 into the recess 20 as shown in FIG. 6.

The through hole 28 is substantially circular (refer to FIG. 6), and the projection 24 has a substantially circular cross-section (refer to FIG. 3). In this way, the dimensions of the through hole 28 and the projection 24 are optimized and thus the preciseness of inserting operation of the projection 24 and the firmness of holding operation of the recess 20 are increased.

Referring back to FIGS. 4 and 5, the hand tool 16 further includes a first handle 38 and a second handle 40. The first body 18 is connected to the first handle 38, and the second body 22 is connected to the second handle 40. The first handle 38 and the second handle 40 are pivotable with respect to a pivot point 42, so that opening the sleeve 10, which is positioned in the recess 20 (refer to FIGS. 6 and 7), with the projection 24 is performed by pivoting the first handle 38 and the second handle 40 toward each other (refer to FIG. 5).

The hand tool 16 further includes a spring member 44. The spring member 44 presses the second handle 40 away from the first handle 38. Thus, after the hand tool 16 is used to open the sleeve 10 as in FIG. 5, the hand tool is restored automatically to the position shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 3 shows that the sleeve 10 is opened by inserting the projection 24 into the sleeve 10, and the decorative hair 12 and the natural hair 14 are loosened so that they can be separated.

FIG. 8 shows a method for handling decorative hair according to the present invention. In the method, the decorative hair 12 is connected to the natural hair 14 with the sleeve 10, and the sleeve 10 is deformed to hold the decorative hair 12 and the natural hair 14 together. The deformed sleeve 10 is opened with the hand tool 16. The method includes step S01 of positioning the sleeve into the recess 20 provided in the hand tool 16, and step S02 of inserting the projection 24 provided in the hand tool 16 into the sleeve 10 to disconnect the decorative hair 12 from the natural hair 14. The recess 20 receives and holds the sleeve 10. The projection 24 is tapered toward the free end 26 of the projection 24 so that the projection 24 becomes sharper toward the free end 26.

In step S02 of inserting the projection 24, the projection 24 is inserted into the through hole 28 provided in the recess 20. In step S01 of positioning the sleeve 10, the sleeve 10 and the decorative hair 12 or the natural hair 14 held by the sleeve 10 are entered into the through hole 28 by passing them through the guide groove 30 that extends from the through hole 28 to outside of the hand tool 16.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to different embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations in form, detail, compositions and operation may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims. 

1. A device for handling decorative hair, wherein the decorative hair is connected to the natural hair with a sleeve, wherein the sleeve is deformed to hold the decorative hair and the natural hair together, the device comprising: a) a first body; and b) a recess provided in the first body for receiving the sleeve and holding the sleeve.
 2. The device of claim 1, further comprising a second body, wherein a projection is provided on the second body, wherein the projection is tapered toward the free end of the projection so that the projection becomes sharper toward the free end, wherein the projection is inserted into the sleeve to open the sleeve and to disconnect the decorative hair from the natural hair.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the recess comprises a through hole, into which the projection is inserted.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the recess further comprises a bottom wall, and a round wall that extends from the bottom wall, wherein the through hole is provided in the bottom wall.
 5. The device of claim 3, wherein the first body further comprises a guide groove that extends from the through hole whereby the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve can enter into the through hole.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the guide groove comprises a tapered portion, wherein the tapered portion becomes wider toward outside of the first body whereby inserting the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve into the through hole is facilitated.
 7. The device of claim 3, wherein the through hole is substantially circular, and wherein the projection has a substantially circular cross-section.
 8. The device of claim 2, wherein the projection has a shape of a needle.
 9. The device of claim 2, further comprising a first handle and a second handle, wherein the first body is connected to the first handle, wherein the second body is connected to the second handle, wherein the first handle and the second handle are pivotable with respect to a pivot point, whereby opening the sleeve, which is positioned in the recess, with the projection is performed by pivoting the first handle and the second handle toward each other.
 10. The device of claim 9, further comprising a spring member, wherein the spring member presses the second handle away from the first handle.
 11. The device of claim 9, wherein the recess has a through hole, into which the projection is inserted.
 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the recess further comprises a bottom wall, and a round wall that extends from the bottom wall, wherein the through hole is provided in the bottom wall.
 13. The device of claim 11, wherein the first body further comprises a guide groove that extends from the through hole whereby the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve can enter into the through hole.
 14. The device of claim 13, wherein the guide groove comprises a tapered portion, wherein the tapered portion becomes wider toward outside of the first body whereby inserting the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve into the through hole is facilitated.
 15. A method for handling decorative hair, wherein the decorative hair is connected to the natural hair with a sleeve, wherein the sleeve is deformed to hold the decorative hair and the natural hair together, wherein the deformed sleeve is opened with a tool, the method comprising steps of: a) positioning the sleeve into a recess provided in the tool, wherein the recess receives and holds the sleeve; and b) inserting a projection provided in the tool into the sleeve to disconnect the decorative hair from the natural hair; wherein the projection is tapered toward the free end of the projection so that the projection becomes sharper toward the free end.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein in the step of inserting the projection, the projection is inserted into a through hole provided in the recess.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein in the step of positioning the sleeve, the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve are entered into the through hole by passing the sleeve and the decorative hair or the natural hair held by the sleeve through a guide groove that extends from the through hole to outside of the tool. 